U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,019 to Woodward et al. discloses a mechanism for storing a hand gun and preventing its unauthorized use. A gun holster has a flexible strap that can be latched to the holster in a position extending over the hammer portion of the gun. When the strap is drawn away from the holster (prior to removal of the gun, an electrical circuit is broken, thereby triggering a battery-operated alarm on the holster. A key-operated lockout switch is provided to enable the gun owner to remove the gun without generating an alarm signal.
However, such a handgun safety device may have the following drawbacks:
1. The trigger (16) is not shielded, and an accidental triggering may still happen, even though the alarm is sounding, to possibly causing a shooting injury by the firing of the gun.
2. The alarm is merely actuated once opening the strap (19) of the holster (10). If a thief or burglar steals or robs the whole thing including the gun and the holster without removing the strap (19), the alarm will not be actuated losing its security meaning.